Precision Farming and Permaculture

We get all the agricultural magazines delivered to the farm whether we like it or not. The big talk these days is using GPS to control tractors. The accuracy achieved can be quite incredible over many hundreds of feet of row. This means that cultivating and planting can go faster. Over the past five years we have been getting help from our neighbors to set up our beds with one of these Satellite controlled tractors. We cannot afford or need one. Jason drove one of our delivery trucks and many other duties on the farm several years ago. He now works for a software company which controls earth moving equipment. He is using his skill driving these machines to test and problem solve what the software engineers produce. He is also helping us map the farm accurately on the computer. This will help us know exactly where all our underground pipes are located, and where every tree or variety of vegetables are. On our journey to take the farm into permaculture we will need this as there will be many more varieties planted, particularly trees. The cost of the technology is coming down so this starts to make sense for us. Jason spent last Saturday putting in survey monuments with Jose. We have a reference point on the wall of the irrigation canal to work on. They then put in five more around the farm which will enable us to get an extremely accurate map. I can then, when I have a faster computer, do design work on the farm for the future. - Nigel